Ronaldo with 18 goals passes Di Stéfano as record scorer in derby

What a night at the Estadio Calderón for Real Madrid and, on a more personal level, for Cristiano Ronaldo. It’ll be the Portuguese forward who makes most of the headlines and not just for securing the three points against local and title rivals Atlético Madrid.

Ahead of the game Madrid’s number seven knew that he was just two goals shy of the derby record held by club legend Alfredo Di Stefano who had scored 17 times against the Manzanares neighbours. Those names he’d already left behind in this personal challenge included Butragueño (12) and Puskas (13) as he sat in second place with Santillana (15).

The first goal came from a free-kick just outside the area after 20 minutes. It was hit hard and low towards a breaking red and white wall. As Oblak moved to his right a deflection took the ball to his left and out of reach. One behind Di Stefano. A lazy lifted leg from Savic with 20 minutes to go allowed Cristiano to run into the contact and go down before getting straight back up again to slot home a record-equaling penalty.

And Madrid derby goal number 18 came with the hat-trick just six minutes later.A sprinting Gareth Bale down the left then delivering a perfect pass across the box, splitting the goalkeeper and the chasing defenders, and allowing the hero of the night to take even more accolades.